


To Turn Back Time

by CheshireChett



Category: Tangled: The Series (Cartoon)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-06-09 00:21:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15255291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheshireChett/pseuds/CheshireChett
Summary: Queen Arianna wants to help Varian, and Varian wishes things were different.





	To Turn Back Time

Arianna softly knocked on the door. 

 

“Varian? Can I come in?”

 

No response. 

 

Then a grunt. 

 

Taking that as a yes, the queen quietly opened the door and peeked in. On the bed, the young teenager laid with his raccoon curled up next to him. A shackle was clamped around his ankle and chained him to the bed. Her heart hurt when her eyes laid upon it. It isn’t right to imprison a child, but what he did was serious and he has to learn this. Arianna slipped into the room and closed the door behind her. Her eyes swept the room a bit before landing on a tray full of food. She frowned. Lunch was a few hours ago. Is he not eating?

 

“What do you want?”

 

The harsh tone startled her a bit. Arianna looked over at the boy who hasn’t moved since she entered. 

 

“I’m just here to check on you.” She glanced back at the tray. “Are you eating?” 

 

He didn’t respond for a while. 

 

“Why do you care?” he growled. “I kidnapped you, held you hostage and tried to kill you. Why do you care whether I eat or not?”

 

The queen moved to sit in a chair by the bed. His back was facing her, so she couldn’t see his face. 

 

“I care because you’re young, and you’ve been through a lot. I understand what you’re going through. I know what it’s like to-“

 

“ _No_ , you don’t,” Varian cut in. “You _don’t_ understand. _No one_ does. How could they? They never cared, and they never will. Who cares if I die or live? I only had one person who cares and now he’s…” 

 

He curled a bit into himself. Arianna wanted to reach out, to comfort him, but she resisted the urge, knowing that would only make it worse. 

 

“I care.”

 

He stiffened at those words, but she continued. 

 

“You may have done those awful things. You may have been a real threat to the kingdom, but at the end of the day, you’re still a child. You’re still dependent on an adult to take care of you, and since your father can’t do that for the time being…”

 

Arianna trailed off. He hasn’t reacted to any of what she’s saying, so now she’s wondering if he’s even listening. 

 

“You want to take care of me.” 

 

Ah, so he was listening. 

 

“Well, maybe not me specifically, but if you want, I can help you however I can.”

 

Pause. 

 

“I don’t need your help,” Varian growled. “I don’t need _anybody’s_ help. And nobody _wanted_ to help _me_ , so it all just works out swimmingly.”

 

Arianna’s eyebrows turned up in sadness. She couldn’t help him when he clearly doesn’t want it. She stared down at her hands clasped in her lap. She inhaled deeply. 

 

“If I had known about your father…” She lifted her head to look back at him. “Then maybe I could’ve convinced the king to do something about it.” 

 

Varian looked to have relaxed a bit, slightly uncurling from his ball. 

 

“You could’ve gotten the help you needed. None of this would’ve happened…”

 

They were silent for a minute. 

 

“You can’t turn back time,” Varian muttered. “What’s been done is done. There’s no way to fix it.”

 

“Varian-“

 

“Leave.”

 

Arianna took in a sharp breath. Reluctantly, she stood up and walked to the door. She turned the knob and opened it just a crack. She turned to look at Varian one more time before opening the door fully and exiting, taking care to close the door behind her. 

 

Once the door was closed, Varian flipped onto his back, his arms and legs outstretched. He stared at the ceiling for a while. Ruddiger cuddled closer to him, attempting to comfort the boy. Varian slowed his breathing, taking in deep breaths and letting them out for several seconds. He closed his eyes and relaxed every muscle in his body. A few parts of his body would twitch a bit before fully relaxing. Once he was sure everything was slackened, he went down. 

 

Varian delved deep into his mind. Reality fell away, and his body no longer existed. It was just him and his thoughts. Varian thought back to when it all started: when he first made the mixture. 

 

_You can’t turn back time._

 

Varian opened his eyes and found he had fallen asleep at his work table again. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. Ruddiger hopped up on the table and offered him an apple. The young alchemist smiled. 

 

“Thanks, buddy.” He took the apple and bit into it as he turned back to the large pointed rocks that pierced through his floor and made a hole in the ceiling. The remnants of his attempts to break or move the rocks were strewn out all over the floor. He had recently started testing chemical compounds on the spikes. The previous one he made caused a reaction from the rocks. Be it an explosive one, but it wasn’t as bad as the other times. 

 

Varian stood up, surveying his collection of chemicals as he chewed on the apple. Now, what could he do next? What sort of substance could he whip up that could make also get a reaction from the rocks? He pulled down a few of the liquids and set them down on his table. He paused. 

 

_It’s ok, Varian,_ he thought. _As long as you don’t pour the entire beaker of it on the rock like you did before, you should be fine._

 

He heaved a sigh. He tossed the apple core away and set down a beaker to pour two of the liquids into it. It turned yellow until he put in the last ingredient. Varian breathes in nervously. 

 

“This is it, Ruddiger,” he said. “Dad should be coming in any minute now.”

 

Ruddiger chattered in confusion. 

 

“You’ll see what I mean soon.” He scratched behind the critter’s ear, earning a happy coo. 

 

A few moments later, the sound of the door opening emitted behind him. Ruddiger looked behind Varian and immediately hid. Varian turned around to see his father entering his lab. 

 

“Son, I just wanted you to know that I’ll be gone for a little while,” Quirin said, stepping a little ways into the lab.

 

“O-oh?” Varian raised an eyebrow. “Where’re you headed?”

 

“To meet up with…a couple of friends.” Quirin gazed at Varian with concern. “Will you be alright by yourself for a few days?”

 

“Oh, pffft, yeah, of course, I’ll be fine!” He chuckled,waving his hand and trying to act nonchalant. “You go be with your friends, Dad. I’ll be fine.”

 

The boy smiled. Quirin sighed. 

 

“Ok,” he finally said. “I’ll see you in a few days. You behave, ok? And stay away from-“

 

“From the rocks, I know.”

 

Quirin smiled and closed the door. Varian let out a huge sigh. He did it. He saved his dad. He giggled and hopped a couple of times. 

 

“Yessss.”

 

_Hey kid!_

 

Varian was jolted out of his trance as a banging came from the door. He sat up, his mind discombobulated from the rude interruption. The door opened as a guard came in and set down the tray. He heaved a sigh. 

 

“Still not eating?? Kid, you gotta eat _something._ You could die if you don’t eat.”

 

Varian glared at the guard and laid back down with his back toward him. The guard let out another sigh, followed by a clattering as he picked up the tray. The door closed, and Varian was once again alone. He gathered up Ruddiger in his arms and buried his face into his fur. What’s the point in eating if you can’t turn back time?


End file.
